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NBA Picks

Free NBA Picks: Thunder Expected To Cover ATS Against Trailblazers

The Portland Trailblazers and Oklahoma City Thunder collide tonight in a highly-anticipated divisional clash. With betting heating up on this game, find out how the NBA odds are taking shape.

Portland Trailblazers (35-32)
Portland Trailblazers are coming off a convincing win over Orlando on Saturday night, a 121-84 win at home that saw the Blazers cover 8.5-point home chalk with much to spare. Buoyed by the win that sees them improve to 2-4 SU in their last six games, the Blazers will hope to carry the momentum at the expense of Oklahoma City Thunder. It will require transcending rather poor road form though, which underlines their rather disadvantaged NBA odds for tonight’s date.

The Trailblazers are riding a four-game losing streak on the road, which includes losses to Golden State, Detroit, Toronto and Boston. Most concerning, only one game was close – the 117-115 loss to the Raptors. The remaining three games saw the Blazers blown off the court in double-digit losses.

Altogether, the Trailblazers are merely 35-32 on the season, which includes a 21-12 mark at home and a 14-20 mark at home. By those stats, it’s obvious the Trailblazers are a much better home team than a road team. It’s no surprise, therefore, they are trading as the road underdogs at 7.5-to 8-points, depending on your sportsbook of choice.

The Blazers are 38-29-0 ATS on the season with a 1.3-point losing margin and a plus 2.6-point differential versus the spread. Despite their subpar 14-20 SU record on the road they are 19-15-0 ATS with a 2.6-point losing margin on average and a plus 1.3-point differential versus the spread. As away underdogs they are 14-11-0 ATS with a 4.2-point losing margin and a plus 2.2-point differential versus the spread. In divisional games, though, the Blazers are 8-4 ATS with a 2.8-point winning margin and a plus 3.6-point differential versus the spread. The pair have split two meetings this season with each side winning at home.

Oklahoma City Thunder (44-22)
Oklahoma City Thunder are riding back-to-back losses into their clash with the Portland Trailblazers, losing to Minnesota and San Antonio. This run of form has them slipping to a 2-4 SU mark in their last six games but, the market appears to be confident they’ll bounce back tonight.

A strong home record that stands at 26-9 underscores this supreme confidence in Oklahoma City on the NBA odds board. They are installed as the 7.5-to-8-point home chalk in spread betting and the a whopping -325 to -350 bet to win outright. However, recent form tells a different story: they are just 2-4 SU in their last six home games with losses to Minnesota, Golden State, Cleveland and Indiana. It remains to be seen whether this recent dip will spill forth into this pivotal divisional clash.

Overall, the Thunder are 44-22-0 on the season, which includes a 27-38-0 ATS mark that is highlighted by a 6.5-point winning margin and a negative 0.7-point differential versus the spread. At home, they are 16-18-1 ATS on the season with an 8.3-point winning margin and a negative 1.1-point differential versus the spread. In divisional encounters, they are just 5-7-0 ATS with a 9-point winning margin and a plus 1.0-point differential versus the spread.

NBA Betting Verdict
Oklahoma City Thunder have been a solid team at home, which underscores their supreme favouritism in the marketplace to win outright. Granted they’ve experienced a recent dip in form that has transcended home court advantage, but a gruelling road schedule in all likelihood contributed to that result, amongst other things. There’s every chance that Thunder will bounce back tonight with a pivotal win over their divisional foes who, let’s face it, don’t play very well on the road. As such, we’re taking Thunder to win outright on our NBA picks. Whether they’ll cover the hefty spread is another matter. For the most part, the Thunder appear to have been overrated in spread betting markets as they repeatedly come up short with a 27-38-0 ATS mark on the season . However, at home they are still a so-so 16-18-0 ATS with an 8-point winning margin, which puts the 7.5-point spread at various sportsbooks into their wheelhouse.